Islam and the Foundations of Political Power

Published in Association with the Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations

The first English translation of this controversial essay that challenged fundamental ideas about political power

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Egypt, 1925: the Muslim world is in turmoil over Mustapha Kamal Ataturk's proposal to abolish the caliphate in Turkey. The debate over Islam and politics re-ignites as traditional political systems dissolve under pressure from European powers and most Muslim countries lose their sovereignty.

Into this debate enters Ali Abdel Razek, a religious cleric trained at Al-Azhar University, arguing in favour of secularism in his essay 'Islam and the Foundations of Political Power', translated here for the first time.

Scholarly features include

A substantial introduction that places the essay in its context and explains its impact

An appendix of Razek’s sources with full publication details

Explanatory notes beside Razek’s original footnotes

Additional notes about particular people, events or vocabulary that may be unfamiliar to modern readers

Contents

About the AuthorA Tribute to Ali Abdel Razeq Amr HamedPreface, Abdou Filali-AnsaryIntroduction, Abdou Filali-AnsaryForeword, Ali Abdel RazeqBook One: The caliphate and Islam1: The nature of the caliphate2: The status of the caliphate3: The caliphate from the social point of viewBook Two: Islam and government4: The system of power at the time of the Prophet5: Prophecy and power6: Islam: a message from God rather than a system of governmenta religion rather than stateBook Three: The caliphate and the government throughout history7: Religious unity and the Arab people8: The Arab State9: The nature of the caliphateBibliographyAppendix

About the Author

Ali Abdelraziq came from a wealthy, landowning family that was politically active. He was educated in the traditional curriculum and graduated from Al-Azhar University in 1915 as an 'alim. He went on to travel to Britain and study at Oxford University for a short period and the then newly founded Egypt University. The outbreak of the World War interrupted his courses in politics and economics, compelling him to return to Egypt where he served as an Al-Azhar alim, a judge in the traditional Islamic Courts of Alexandria and as a teacher of Arabic.

Abdou Filali-Ansary is Director of the Aga Khan University Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilizations. He is author of several books including Is Islam Hostile to Secularism? and Reforming Islam? An Introduction to Contemporary Debates.

Reviews

There could not be a more propitious time for this translation that - almost a century after its publication - raises issues still relevant to the governance of Muslim societies and authority.

- Azim Nanji, Stanford University

‘It is somewhat astonishing that Ali Abdel Raziq’s Al-Islam Wa Usul Al-Hukm, one of the most discussed and most significant books of early twentieth-century Egyptian, Arab, and Islamic intellectual history, should have gone so long without a translation into English. Its appearance, in Edinburgh’s ‘In Translation: Modern Muslim Thinkers’ series, is therefore especially welcome…Filali-Ansari’s introduction situates the work in its own context, particularly stressing its importance in sparking what might be seen as the first major ‘public-opinion’ controversy of modern Middle Eastern history.’